> RoMunn wrote: > We could do everything wrong and 100 years from now the planet could be an > iceberg, or we could do everything right and 100 years from now the planet > could be a hot-house. Or it could be the other way around. We have no way of > knowing, and more importantly no way of controlling, the non-anthropogenic > factors in climate change. >
Now we're into agreement territory - I totally agree with you. But here's where we differ: What you just described is the textbook definition of "risk". And there are time-honored time-tested ways to manage risk. You use many of them today and you call it "insurance". Insurance is not free; it requires capital. And it comes with no guarantees. Your house may never burn down. It might, but you might not have enough insurance to cover it or your insurance company may be AIG (different thread :) In this case our insurance can be money we use for research into what's causing the problem and what, if anything, we can do about it. And just like in business, even though at the end of that work we'll probably have some actions they'll be educated guesses. You own a business - did you start it knowing for 100% sure that it would work out for the long term? Of course not. So you're already agreeing with risk management and taking action on imperfect data. At least your actions and your livelihood are agreeing with me. Where we also agree is that whatever research has been done, it's not enough to take action yet; it's too imperfect. Which is why I've always advocated for a percentage of our GDP (and other country's do the same) towards a global initiative of research. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:309276 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
